The present invention relates to systems and methods for the measurement and improvement of human eye response to orientation information that comes from the vestibular system in the inner ear. Terms used to describe this ocular response include the vestibulo-ocular reflex or vestibular ocular reflex (both referred to as the VOR). Other terms used to describe this ocular response include dynamic visual acuity, kinetic visual acuity, dynamic visual stability, and retinal image stability. More specifically, in one embodiment, the present invention comprises a portable, battery-powered device for measuring and improving the VOR and/or other physiologic eye responses. The portable device could be head-worn, otherwise user attachable, or hand-held. The device could be used to (a) measure the ocular responses that relate to and predict the performance of the user when performing an activity and/or to (b) provide a means for improving or enhancing the VOR or other eye responses associated with head movement of a subject.
It is desirable to have a device that could be worn anywhere for ambulatory testing in a non-clinical or non-laboratory environment. The device should be lightweight, portable, ergonomic, and aesthetically pleasing compared to the prior art hard wired, laboratory and clinical technologies, typically affixed to a desktop computer system or similar non-portable device. One example of a laboratory technology to be eliminated is an external pulsed magnetic field, which was used by Allison et al (IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, November 1996). Such a magnetic field would make it impossible to use the device outside the laboratory. The desired device should track eye gaze and other movement related activity of the eyes. The device should measure the VOR or another type of human eye response to changes in head orientation.